Peter Mandelson has issued an apology for his association with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein – after declining to do so in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
Now, I hold no brief for this slimy disgraced politician at all, but the hysteria over Epstein is really starting to aggravate me now.
The Labour peer, who was sacked as US ambassador when details of his support for Epstein emerged in September, gave an interview to the BBC in which he suggested that as a gay man he knew nothing of the disgraced financier’s sex life.
And yes, this is exactly the sort of absurd identity politics that you can expect from a former member of Blair's cabinet.
On Monday night, Lord Mandelson apologised “unequivocally” for associating with Epstein after his conviction.
In a statement, he said: “At the weekend, I gave an interview to the BBC. In answering questions about my association with Jeffrey Epstein I did not want to be held responsible for his crimes of which I was ignorant, not indifferent, because of the lies he told me and so many others.
And if anyone should be able to spot lies, it should be you! But forcing someone to recant a friendship is like something from the dark ages...
“I want to say loudly and clearly that I was wrong to believe him following his conviction and to continue my association with him afterwards. I apologise unequivocally for doing so to the women and girls who suffered.
“I was never culpable or complicit in his crimes. Like everyone else I learned the full truth about him after his death.
“But his victims did know what he was doing, their voices were not heard and I am truly sorry I was amongst those who believed him over them.”
It's ridiculoius that these mea culpas tske up valuable news time and newspaper space, and that they are demanded at all. And why does no-one ever have the courage to refuse to do them?
1 comment:
How many more times will this odious man bounce back from one scandal after another? He must know where the bodies are buried
Jaded
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